2,301 books
—
3,226 voters
to-read
(292)
currently-reading (2)
read (515)
classics (212)
nonfiction (116)
horror (69)
fantasy (57)
historical-fiction (53)
biography-autobiography (52)
history (51)
philosophy (43)
currently-reading (2)
read (515)
classics (212)
nonfiction (116)
horror (69)
fantasy (57)
historical-fiction (53)
biography-autobiography (52)
history (51)
philosophy (43)
stephen-king
(38)
humor (36)
russian (36)
war (35)
gothic-horror (33)
crime-thriller (28)
science-fiction (27)
graphic-novels (26)
kid-books (26)
travel (26)
world-war-2 (26)
humor (36)
russian (36)
war (35)
gothic-horror (33)
crime-thriller (28)
science-fiction (27)
graphic-novels (26)
kid-books (26)
travel (26)
world-war-2 (26)
“He felt vaguely that he would be leaving something behind, something that might have been precious to him, had he been able to know what it was.”
― Butcher's Crossing
― Butcher's Crossing
“Can proximity cause vertigo?
It can. When the north pole comes so close as to touch the south pole, the earth disappears and man finds himself in a void that makes his head spin and beckons him to fall.
If rejection and privilege are one and the same, if there is no difference between the sublime and the paltry, if the Son of God can undergo judgment for shit, then human existence loses its dimensions and becomes unbearably light. When Stalin's son ran up to the electrified wire and hurled his body at it, the fence was like the pan of a scales sticking pitifully up in the air, lifted by the infinite lightness of a world that has lost its dimensions.
Stalin's son laid down his life for shit. But a death for shit is not a senseless death. The Germans who sacrificed their lives to expand their country's territory to the east, the Russians who died to extend their country's power to the west—yes, they died for something idiotic, and their deaths have no meaning or general validity. Amid the general idiocy of the war, the death of Stalin's son stands out as the sole metaphysical death.”
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
It can. When the north pole comes so close as to touch the south pole, the earth disappears and man finds himself in a void that makes his head spin and beckons him to fall.
If rejection and privilege are one and the same, if there is no difference between the sublime and the paltry, if the Son of God can undergo judgment for shit, then human existence loses its dimensions and becomes unbearably light. When Stalin's son ran up to the electrified wire and hurled his body at it, the fence was like the pan of a scales sticking pitifully up in the air, lifted by the infinite lightness of a world that has lost its dimensions.
Stalin's son laid down his life for shit. But a death for shit is not a senseless death. The Germans who sacrificed their lives to expand their country's territory to the east, the Russians who died to extend their country's power to the west—yes, they died for something idiotic, and their deaths have no meaning or general validity. Amid the general idiocy of the war, the death of Stalin's son stands out as the sole metaphysical death.”
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“I became a new being, and the subject of my own admiration. I was a traveler! A word never had tasted so good in my mouth before. I had an exultant sense of being bound for mysterious lands and distant climes which I never have felt in so uplifting a degree since. I was in such a glorified condition that all ignoble feelings departed out of me, and I was able to look down and pity the untraveled with a compassion that had hardly a trace of contempt in it.”
― Life on the Mississippi
― Life on the Mississippi
“Optimism is not only a false but also a pernicious doctrine, for it presents life as a desirable state and man's happiness as its aim and object. Starting from this, everyone then believes he has the most legitimate claim to happiness and enjoyment. If, as usually happens, these do not fall to his lot, he believes that he suffers an injustice, in fact that he misses the whole point of his existence.”
― The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
― The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
“Unlike depression, melancholy does not have a specific cause. It is an aspect of temperament, perhaps genetically based. One may emerge from the hypo, as Lincoln did, but melancholy is an indelible part of one's nature.”
― 仁者无敌:林肯的政治天才
― 仁者无敌:林肯的政治天才
Exploring Existentialism
— 170 members
— last activity Feb 23, 2022 03:36PM
Did your karma just run over your dogma? We can help. A place to come for existentialist answers. Also offering dada, absurdism, surrealism, nihilism, ...more
Scott’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Scott’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Scott
Lists liked by Scott






















































